Regarding Gwenledyr Brandybuck
by Gwenledyr Brandybuck
Summary: A tale of the childhoods of Peregrin Took, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and that one annoying little sister...
1. Keys and Mischief

So, here's the situation.  
I've fancied my cousin since I was quite young, probably no older than ten or eleven, but time for me was never made because my older brother is, put gently, a hog.  
I love Merry dearly, but when it comes to our cousin Pippin he is quite the selfish wanker.

In fact, it's rather strange the way he covets the our endearing cousin. My brother is quite a generous fellow, and I'm probably his second favorite thing ever- but always after Pippin.  
You see, they've been really close for as long as I can remember. Merry's quite a few years older than me, but he was always a tender, protective brother. He treats me well and allows me no fault. But when it comes to Pippin... well. Pippin is his and no one else's.

I remember once back a few years ago, in fall of the year that I turned sixteen, all the cousins had make the long trek to Bywater to harvest pumpkins before the first frost.  
It was quite a trip- though much work was neglected in favor of play and mischief.  
Meriadoc and Pippin disappeared the second we arrived, knowing work was to be had and they'd take no part in it.

I, like a good young girl, spent a good part of the day lugging pumpkins through the fields and onto wagons, then back into the field and so on and so forth. But at one point, soreness and boredom overtook me and I decided to scoot off with Pervinca Took, one of Pippin's older sisters. We snuck into the woods when adults were preoccupied and managed to find a cluster of wild mushrooms usually found only in Buckland. Overjoyed, we spent the better part of an hour stuffing our faces happily. After we exhausted the patch, we decided to explore a little further into the dense but friendly forest.  
About a kilometer in, with sunlight still poking holes through the treetops, Pervinca and I stumbled upon a very large rusty key embedded in the soft earth.  
Pervinca leaned down and picked it up carefully.  
"Why, Gwen, what do you suppose this could go to?"  
I raised my eyebrows and shrugged.  
"It must unlock an awfully large lock. Wouldn't you say?"  
My cousin nodded, her eyes still wide with wonder.  
"Perhaps," I mused. "We should continue walking and we'll stumble across the thing it unlocks."  
Agreeing that this was a reasonable plan, Pervinca and I set out with a purpose. Work forgotten; we were investigating a mystery now.  
After walking a length longer, we decided to rest for a moment. We took a seat on a fallen tree and examined the key more thouroghly.  
As measured, it was as long as my head, and weighed quite a bit. Though rusted, silvery bits of the design shined through at the head of the key. There were depictions of clouds carved into the head, trailing down into the stem.  
"I wonder what clouds have to do with giant locks." Pervinca mused dreamily. "Maybe it's a key to the sky."  
I grinned. "What a strange thing to say! How would you secure the sky with a lock? It has no handle."  
"You don't know that. There may be a sky handle outside of the Shire." My cousin looked at me very seriously. It was all I could do to keep from laughing.  
"Sure there is." I giggled and shook my head. Pervinca may have been years older, but she was what they called 'touched in the head'. I liked to think she had a unique perspective.  
We stood up, stretched, and continued our search for the mysterious lock.  
Our search came to fruition another kilometer through the woods. Pushing through thorny vines, we found ourselves in a grassy clearing, hosting a small wooden structure at it's center.  
We made our way across the clearing and found the door shut tightly, but with no apparent lock. I turned the handle and found the door opening with ease. The interior was unlit, but sunlight streaming in through a single broken window and the open door illuminated enough for us to walk in without fear of hidden danger.  
Stepping into the room and onto the polished wooden floor, Pervinca and I examined it throuroughly. The broken window was on the wall to our right, and the room was bare of furniture. Straight ahead, hiding in shadows, we could make out a large, heavy-looking door embedded into the back wall.  
Very carefully, Pervinca and I made our way to the door, being careful to avoid the especially squeaky floorboards in fear of possible structural damage. We reached the door and finally found what we had been looking for; a very large, very old-looking padlock. I looked at her and grinned. She handed me the key and stepped back while I, with two hands, pushed it into the lock and heaved to turn it. A very loud click resounded, and Pervinca and I exchanged looks of triumph.  
At that moment, a voice came from the door.  
"And what exactly do you two think you're doing in here?"  
I jumped and whirled about, realizing the familiar voice could belong to only one person.  
"Gwenledyr Bradybuck, you know better than to go frolicking off into dark forests- picking up garbage you find laying around then breaking into people's houses." Merry scolded. I couldn't tell if he was serious, but I wasn't willing to take the chance.  
"You- I- what-?" I stammered. "This is someone's house?"  
"It might be!" Pippin popped his head through the window, looking just as stern as my brother. My cheeks flushed and I took to examining the floor with interest.  
"Hush up, you." Pervinca put her hands on her hips. "We have as much right to explore as you do."  
Merry raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, sauntering further into the house.  
"Oh do you now? Pip!"  
Pippin sprang into the room and imitated Merry's posture.  
"He's right, P." He waggled a finger. "And you, Miss Brandybuck, should know better." He nodded confidently and his curls shook with the movement. I blushed again and looked down.  
"I wasn't trying to cause mischief, Merry, we just HAD to know where this key belonged!"  
"Well you've caused it now." He mused. "And since mischief should never go to waste, I can't see how any more damage could be caused by investigating whatever lies behind that door..." A grin crept onto my brother's face, and I lit up.  
"Oh! You mean it? Let's, let's!"  
Pippin grinned as well, and all four of us approached the lock again, with the key still in place.  
"So it's unlocked then?" Merry murmured.  
"Let's not waste time!" Pippin popped up and bounced past his sister. He pushed on the door, and it creaked heavily. He groaned. "A little help would be appreciated! This is heavy!"  
All four of us placed our weight against it and heaved, moving the door centimeter by centimeter, eventually opening it far enough for us to squeeze through.  
We peered behind the door, and realized it was a platform for a dark staircase leading far down into the ground beneath the cabin.  
The four of us exchanged looks, did some nodding and grinning, then one by one squeezed down into the passage, making our way down the staircase.


	2. Vinegar and Pumpkin Pie

We managed to all shove ourselves down onto the unlit staircase and then slowly made our way to the bottom of the steps. We kept quiet and waited for our visions to adjust- Pervinca and I held hands out of fear- and slowly started seeing the shapes of furniture and commodities that were scattered about the dark room.  
My brother was the first to leave our tight group, making his way toward a rough-hewn table, and was quickly followed by my cousin. Pervinca and I stood together a moment longer, but slowly ventured out as our eyes got more and more used to the lack of illumination.  
"Hey Pip," I heard by brother mutter. "What do you suppose these are used for?"  
I turned around and saw the two of them peering into, what appeared to be, glass cannisters and dishes. They were shaped like nothing I'd ever seen, so I tapped Pervinca's arm and walked over to the boys' side of the room.  
"What've ya got there then?" I looked over Pippin's shoulder carefully. I set my chin on his shoulder, such an innocent manner of gesture that he didn't notice, but my heart leapt a little as I caught the smell of poppies from his hair.  
"I think they're some sort of... flasks?" Merry picked one up and examined it closely, the glass barely touching the tip of his nose.  
I saw Pervinca furrow her eyebrows.  
"Why would one have so many flasks- and all sitting empty on a table like that?"  
"Maybe a flask-maker used to live here." Merry mused and stalked around the table to an armoir set against the stone wall. "No way to rightly know."  
Pippin nodded, his curls brushing my face.  
"Or maybe this was a tavern-owner's private stock." He reached over his shoulder and mussed my hair before turning about and sending a glance his sister's way. "Are you alright, darling?"  
_Darling. _He always called her that. She was his elder- all our elders- but she had a child's mind, and he was very protective.  
Pervinca nodded and smiled shyly.  
"It's cool down here. A nice break from working out in the field."  
"That it is." I shook my head. "I love fall dearly, but dragging pumpkins through the mud for fourteen years gets a wee bit old. Dontcha think?"  
Merry was distracted fiddling with the armoir, so Pippin looked at me and shrugged, blue eyes wide.  
"I would think so."  
I rolled my eyes and gently slugged his arm.  
"Not like you would know, ya mite, you two are always about havering while the rest of us do all the hard work."  
"Well that's not true!" He looked indignant. "I'm perfectly helpful when time comes to be making and eating the pies. And the mead. And the tarts..." He trailed off and unfocused. "Mmm. Merry?"  
"Yes?" My brother was still fiddling with the armoir lock.  
"I'm hungry."  
"You're always hungry, Pip."  
Pippin glanced up and then shrugged in concession. I couldn't help but grin.  
"Anyway, _Gwen_," My cousin raised his eyebrows at me. "I promise to do 100% of any work so long as it's followed by one of your pumpkin pies."  
"I'd wager so much, as long as the work only involved the eating part!" I laughed at him again. I didn't have much persuasion in the world of older boys, but when fall came 'round I could have a piece of whoever I wanted in exchange for a piece of my pumpkin pie. Not that I took advantage of that- though I could've.  
I'd been crazy over boys, ever since I was wee, and my mum desperately tried to reign me in, constantly telling me to wait 'til I reached 30 and boys were nearly of marrying age. But Pip had seven years on me, he'd be of marrying age far before I had a hope.  
So I made pumpkin pie.  
"Gwen. GWEN."  
"Huh?" I looked up. My brain had wandered away from the dark room in the woods, and it snapped back only at the sound of my brother impatiently calling me. "I'm sorry Mer, what was it?"  
"Come over here and see if you can get this open, my fingers are too big."  
"Figures, ya big sausage." I muttered, but crossed around the table anyway.  
"See this latch 'ere? It has to go up for the lock to open. I can't quite get it, and I don't have a tool or anything. See if you can get your baby fingers in there."  
The crack between the doors was quite narrow, and I wasn't sure how he expected me to fit _fingers _in there, but I didn't want to disappoint him, so I tried anyway.  
After a bit of fiddling and forcing, I got my pinky to get under the latch and force it up. We all heard a clear **THUNK **as the lock came undone, and I smiled triumphantly.  
"Good on ya, sis." Merry grinned and patted me on the back.  
I looked at Pippin and his sister, and Pervinca smiled at me. Pippin winked, and my heart went **THUNK**, just like the lock.  
"Shall we take a look?" Merry stepped back from the armoir, clearing it for the door to open. I did the same, and he grabed the wrought-iron handle and pulled it open gently.  
We all craned to look inside, and saw an intriguing sight; several more of the 'flasks', but these ones varied vastly in shape and size. For another matter, they all contained liquids of different colors and viscosities. It was a bizzare sight to behold, and we all exchanged inquisitive looks.  
"What on middle earth could those be for?" Pippin said, in a hushed tone.  
"You don't suppose it's ale... do ya?" Merry looked unsure.  
I grabbed the one nearest to me off the shelf. My brother's face turned to surprise, but he said nothing.  
I pulled the cork out and warily sniffed the clear liquid inside the oblong container. _Ugh!_ I gagged and pulled it away.  
"What is it?" Merry demanded, a mix of concern and excitement in his voice.  
"This one." I put the cork back in and placed in on the shelf. "Is definitely white vinegar."  
Pippin made a face. Merry shook his head.  
"What about the others?" Pervinca piped up. "They can't all be vinegar, some of the colors are wrong."  
I groaned, suddenly realizing I had designated myself the liquid-sniffer.  
"All right, I'll see." I grabbed the next one off the middle shelf; this one in a long thin glass, the liquid dark and murky. I removed the cork again and ever so carefully sniffed it. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.  
"This one smells like mushrooms. Not bad, but not good."  
Merry took the flash from my hand, giving it a sniff.  
"Oh! That's longleaf water. Some of the farmers put it on their more precious crops- like mint, and catnip and longleaf- to keep the bugs off. Harmless, but I wouldn't recommend taking a swig." He grinned, and I put it back up in it's place.  
"Shall we go through them all, or just leave them?" I was getting a bit sick from the intense smells.  
Merry pondered it, then shook his head.  
"We'll check them out later, first let's figure out what all's in this room."  
"Good idea." Pippin turned around and put his fists on his hips, examining the now completely visible room.  
With the table and armoir at his back, the staircase we came down was on Pippin's right, to his left was a long stretch of wall with several parchments tacked up on the wall, and about ten yards in front of him was a simple pine-frame, hay stuffed bed, an end table, and another long table like the one with the flasks on it. Upon further investigation, the table down by the bed held no flasks, but was covered it weird dark stains. It bothered me looking at it, somehow, so I moved my attention to the bed and the end table.  
While Merry examined the parchment on the wall, Pervinca traced the dark stains on the table with her fingers. Pippin came and sat down on the bed next to me. A dark wool blanket was the only think between us and the scratchy matress, so we sat carefully, trying not to compromise the position of the blanket.  
"I wasn't kidding, you know. About the pie." Pippin looked at me seriously. I cracked a grin.  
"How do you mean?"  
"Anything- any chore you need done, work tended- I'll do it if you'll get me one of those pies before the pumpkins are all stored or used.  
"You haverin'?"  
He held up a delicate hand.  
"Swear on my mother's grave, you make the best pie in Bag End- in the Shire!"  
I laughed, and he let loose a tight, toothy smile, eyes crinkling up and sparkling.  
"Pip, 'er head is big enough, don't go talking about her pies again." Merry commented drolly from his spot near the wall. "Couldn't get him to shut up about those pies since this morning."  
"Really now?" I acted unimpressed, but I felt like I'd felt earlier when Pervinca and I found that mushroom patch. When something really good happens and you're not expecting it; that is just the best feeling you can feel.  
But, I had to admit to myself, every feeling having any bit to do with my cousin generally came about to that warm, tingly, heart-throbby feeling that came about wheneve he joshed with me or teased. Just... perfect.  
I stole a look at his face. Beautiful blue eyes hid under his curly bangs, both molding the way for his classic Took nose, just a bit stuck up on the end, but not so much that he looked like my brother. A deep septum down from it then, and into his thin, ever-smiling mouth. Even when he's sad, he looks a wee bit amused.  
I'd thought about his lips a lot. His eyes burned in my mind when I tried to sleep, his laughter echoed in my ears when I was milking goats or sweeping the bricks.  
I was a thoroughly lovestruck girl, so nothing could prepare me for the oncoming storm.


End file.
